At this point things have become somewhat more clear about the
realignment of the Elk Hunt Zones (EHZ), which we discussed in some
depth in the last post. In this I used the rough sketched map below,
which shows the way the EHZs have been aligned for the past several
years. From this it seemed reasonable to assume that they would remain
reasonably the same, with EHZ 11 and 12 added to the mix. If one looks
at the map, they simply started with Zone 1 in the northwest corner of
the elk management area and then numbered the units in a clockwise
circle, coming back to EHZ 10 meeting EHZ 1 in the east, with the No
Hunt Zone being in about the center of the western half of the elk
management area, which corresponds to the core of the traditional core
elk range on Winslow Hill.
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| Approximate Map of Hunt Zones In Recent Years-2 More Zones Added This
Year--Source: W. Hill-"The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd |
When pondering the license allocations for
2013, there were some things that just didn't add up though unless the
EHZs were changed substantially in some areas as zones 5&6 were in
the eastern part of the elk range where there is little controversy
about elk/vehicle collisions and other elk related problems at this
time. The new allocations really slammed the pressure on the elk in
these zones with a total of 7 bull tags and 23 antlerless tags being
issued for these two zones, but the elk/human conflict problem area was
centered in the Medix Run--Weedville corridor.
Things became more clear when the April 27th issue of Endeavor News arrived. Well known elk writer, Carol Mulvihill's article,
"Spring brings new life to Pennsylvania elk population" featured
a small map of the new hunt zones. Paid subscribers to the online
edition may read the article in its' entirety by clicking the link,
while others must wait 3 weeks until it is available to the general
public.
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| 2013 Elk Hunt Zone Map: Created by W.Hill based on map published in
Endeavor News |
I
created a map of the new zones by drawing in Photoshop. I emphasize
that this is a a very rough drawing and county lines, and EHZ lines are
only very general in nature. Do not try to analyze it closely and try to
figure the exact location of anything. In fact the map used by Ms.
Mulvihill as best as I can tell does not show route 255, or 555, or
Winslow Hill Road, which the maps in the Hunting and Trapping Digest
never do either. This makes it impossible to tell from the maps where
the boundaries are, but the digests do have detailed written
descriptions of the boundaries, so we will likely have to wait for the
2013-14 Digest to be published to be sure of things.
From
this map though, it becomes clear why zones 5&6 have the high
allocations. These EHZs now appear to be in the area from beyond
Weedville to the west to possibly well past Benezette on the south side
of RT 555 to the east. In addition EHZ 10 has been moved from the
western edge to the east.
It is very clear that the
PGC and a very vocal portion of the public
do not want elk in town, or have to deal with them on the highways.
While at present the majority of the complaints about elk seem to be
centered around the Medix Run to Weedville and the Rt 255 corridors,
the photo below, taken in Benezett, shows the type of situation that
many are unhappy about.
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| Large Herd In Benezette |
There is no mention in Carol's article of a No Hunt
Zone nor is there one on the map, but there is an EHZ 7, which is a
very small area on the map, in what seems to be the location of the
present No Hunt Zone. It has an allocation of 0 Bulls and 0 Antlerless
so if this is the replacement for the No Hunt Zone it makes no
difference at this point. Assuming the boundaries remain the same, it is
simply playing with semantics, but it does make it much easier to begin
shooting elk everywhere on Winslow Hill in the future. If this move is
accepted with little or no public reaction, it will be very easy to
start allocating tags for the area. The acceptance of the term EHZ 7
for No Hunt Zone, removes a psychological barrier to elk hunting in the
center of elk tourism on Winslow Hill.
I emphasize at
this point that I will not guarantee the accuracy of any of this, but as
more information becomes available it seems that things are going to
change and the change will likely be very significant. Assuming that EHZ
7 with its' 0 allocation is the replacement for the No Hunt Zone, it
will not surprise me at all if the size of area is drastically
reduced. The bottom line is that time will tell and it should become
clear by the time the Hunting/Trapping Digest is published, but I would
not even assume that this is a given, as there seems to have been much
tighter control on the release of information pertaining to elk
management and the elk hunt in the past few years.
Originally published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
